Oh goodie, yet another male author writing a thriller with an unreliable female narrator. Has Alex Michaelides ever met a woman? Or a therapist? It sure doesn’t seem like it!!!

I can’t even begin to describe how infuriated this book made me. And I had high hopes, because the marketing made it seem like a fun dark academia story incorporating elements of Greek mythology, always one of my favorite things.

But no one acts like a real human here. The things it implies about psychopathy, childhood trauma, and therapy are downright offensive. And that end “twist”?? It’s trite, makes zero sense, only done for shock value, and is also pretty offensive!!!

And then there’s the writing style. I couldn’t connect to Mariana, or any character, because of the dry, academic narration, where everything is told to you and nothing is shown. I haven’t read The Silent Patient to compare, and now I won't, because this book is enough to turn me off this author completely.

I absolutely loved this. I couldn’t wait to read it because I loved The Silent Patient so much, and this did NOT disappoint. I couldn’t put it down, I read it all in one sitting (staying up deep into the night). So many amazing red herrings, I did not see the twist coming. And I absolutely LOVED how he tied the other book in several times. Might there be more books to come set in this universe?! I can only hope so. Amazing writing, a must-read!!!

Having been a fan of The Silent Patient, I went in with zero expectations other than I think Alex Michaelides is the bees knees. This is another twisty thriller that is perfect for your travel bag. Sit, relax and enjoy!

So I, uh, very much did not like this. This was pretty much just a collection of everything I don’t want in a “thriller.”

So this just started off so slow and never really got better?? The first 50 pages felt like this couldn’t decide what genre it wanted to be. It was a hodge podge of random information and none of it particularly compelling? Plus I was just never really sucked in. This never made me want to pick it up and keep reading. I was bored most of the time, waiting for the “thrilling” bits to happen. And there were also some very random red herrings probably meant to make it more “thrilling” but they just felt…. out of place?

But honestly what irked me most was the main character. She was absolutely clueless and took forever to see things that were right in front of her face. That is my number one pet peeve in a thriller. I need a main character I can root for, not someone I spend the entire book screaming at for being incompetent.

So ultimately I just found this incredibly slow, predictable and just not something I enjoyed reading?? I really did not click with the style of this one. I honestly almost skipped it and now I really wish I had. I was just…. disappointed.

So not for me. I’ve also seen very mixed reviews for this one so far so if you read a lot of thrillers, you probably won’t like this one. But if you don’t, you might enjoy it more than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon Books for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved Alex Michaelides book, The Silent Patient, so I was eager to read/listen to The Maidens. Unfortunately, this book was not a good fit for me. I felt the pace of the book was jus too slow to hold my interested.

Alex Micaelides shifts to the world of dark academia in The Maidens. Mariana is mourning the death of her husband Sebastian, who died on vacation a year ago. She receives a call from her niece that a girl has gone missing at Cambridge, and not just any girl her close friend. Mariana rushes to be by her niece's side and gets swept up in the investigation. Twisty to the end, you won't want to put this one down!

WOW! What did I just read? Absolute brilliance! I did not see that ending coming at all. Alex Michaelides is my new must-read author. You have to put up with poor writing in this genre all too often, but not anymore. I could not stop reading this, and the writing is excellent. The characters are well developed, and the plot pushes you along to a jaw-dropping ending. I don't want to give anything away, so just read it! Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing this ARC. This is one I will be recommending to my library patrons.

I loved this book. I have recommended it to several people. The Silent Patient has a few tie ins in this book. Alex Michaelides does not disappoint with twists and an ending that you won't see coming.

While an interesting story with great characterization, the plot and story seemed to creep slowly past. Not a book for those wanting a quick read, nonetheless a good read.

What the actual hell was the ending of The Maidens?! I was livid, livid I tell you!!

Up until that point I was totally on board with the book! I was all into it, throwing my guesses into the ring and just itching to see whodunnit. It honestly felt like Alex sat there while writing the book and said to himself, “now what would be the most outlandish and bullshit ending I could give the people…EUREKA! I have it!” Why, Alex, why? It was stupid. And angering.

Side note: I really enjoyed The Silent Patient!

Slight spoiler alert…I am so over the crazy woman kills people because of a man plot. It’s lazy. And insulting. Stop it. If you want a woman to be the killer, just make her ruthless on her own. Don’t make it stem from a man telling her to do it.

Also, why was Henry even a part of this book? No point. As a matter of fact, most of the book has no point for being there.

I'm sorry for such a brutal review, but this just made me extremely angry with the turn it took.

I enjoyed this book. As a fan of The Silent Patient I can say this did not disappoint. Recently widowed therapist responds to her nieces call after the murder of a young student at Oxford. The murdered student was one of a charismatic professor's "cult" of maidens. Hmmm, The therapist and her niece begin to investigate. There will be twists and a mythological component.

Ugh, this was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I was so bored. I guessed what happened from the beginning and therefore wasn’t surprised by a thing. It seemed like there were so many random things introduced that never went anywhere. There was so much that was just to far out there and wasn’t believable at all. Once I got to the end I was wondering what the point was?

I was looking forward to this one as I really enjoyed Michaelides other book the Silent Patient but this one fell short for me. It had a slow start and I found the first half a bit boring. I didn't much care for any of the characters and had very little connection to them. There were some decent plot twits but I mostly felt the actions of the characters were a bit far fetched. The second half moved much more quickly. There was a small interlap between this one and The Silent Patient, I'm hoping for a third that ties them more together.

Thank you, NetGalley, Celadon Books, and Alex Michaelides for the eARC!

I thoroughly enjoyed this modern tragedy mixed with mystery. I know there’s been some debate about it, but I’m a fan. The plot was littered with literary references and kept me guessing. My only regret is not reading it immediately after The Silent Patient due to all of the cross overs and cameos- which I loved. Though it wasn’t meant to be, I almost felt prequel vibes in some chapters.

The marketing for The Maidens paired with the generosity of the author was genius. I loved that little free libraries got stocked with copies of a new release and thought it was super cool that they hid copies in settings from the book. What a dream for book lovers! And, if I had to bet, I bet one of those given copies wound up in the hands of a non-reader too and may very well have ignited a desire to read more books.

Additionally, I have much respect for Mr. Michaelides for his transparency with the writing process and humility in expressing his many feelings toward the book’s publication. That kind of vulnerability deserves a standing ovation.

Excellent job, all in all, Mr. Michaelides!

I was so excited to read this book as I really enjoyed The Silent Patient. I started reading The Maidens and got about 75 pages in and decided to not finish the book. At this point in any book, if I am not sucked into the book, I won't finish. That being said, they events thus far were not gripping me making me want to read more. I was able to guess who the killer was at the beginning of the book and have it confirmed by a friend who read the entire book - which made me disappointed that that was too easy to suspect.

Barely scraped 5 stars, but somehow I'm okay with it? I'm still sitting on this one, so subject to change, but I really enjoyed it. The atmosphere was top notch. I loved the Greek references and campus atmosphere. While Mariana kind of grated on my nerves, her character made sense. Even the ending, I initially hated, but after thinking about it, it made sense in context. Overall, if you want an atmospheric, engaging thriller, I definitely recommend giving this one a go. Leaps and bounds better than the Silent Patient in my opinion.

I was really excited about this one as I really liked Silent Patient, but this one just fell short. The character development was choppy and it felt like there were too many characters trying to be the bad guy just to confuse you but not really doing a good job. It was just very obvious what was happening and not in a good way. I will say that I never expected the bad guy to be who it was but it felt contrived and forced till the bitter end.

If you are a fan of Silent Patient, then this book is for you...to a point. I didn't feel that it was as good as Silent Patient though. This started out much stronger than Silent Patient, I will say that so I had high hopes for it. Especially with the added influence of Greek Mythology which I loved. I settled in thinking I was in for a wild ride.

It wasn't as wild as I thought it would be. My mind kept wandering as I got into the book. I did enjoy the characters and learning of all of their backstories especially Mariana. She was a interesting character and for some reason, she is the one I dug the most.

While this was still a good book, I felt the ending was a little underwhelming. To be honest, it could just be it seemed that way to me because of the fact that I had read Silent Patient and LOVED it that I went into with high expectations.

Michaelides still has a great talent of really putting you into the setting of the book. I loved how he described the setting and mentioned the little things.

Thank you so much to #NetGalley and Celadon books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

In 2019 Alex Michaelides’ first novel took the publishing world by storm, becoming either the best selling thriller or something of that nature, either way it was by all accounts the most impressive of debuts. I didn’t read it. It was too hyped up and too…always out at the library. But when The Maidens, his follow up effort, appeared on Netgalley, I was, of course, interested in checking it out. And I must say…it’s pretty disappointing.
It isn’t all that disappointing for a thriller genre, because there are just too many books there, too many well meaning but lackluster attempts at wowing the readers with their attempts at twisting the plot just right. And I read tons of those, they are just too popular, too ubiquitous to avoid and when they are good, they are really good. I love being surprised by the ending. But mostly they are average. And this book is very much average. It’s nowhere near the quality one would expect from a writer who singlehandedly blew thriller fans’ minds just two years ago.
If I’d never heard of the author prior to reading the book, I’d place it somewhere well within the random kindle freebie books I sometimes score, it’s just about in the middle there, maybe slightly above. The writing is the greatest detractor here, it’s flat, bland, cardboardy, there’s just no spark, no magic, nothing. The characters aren’t very interesting. The plot itself is decent enough and the novel’s main saving grace is the ending twist, which is a genuine surprise, especially considering the general triteness of the overall proceedings. Plus it’s relatively slim, so you’re not stuck with it for too long. But those are not exactly best selling attributes one might have expected from such a lauded author. It’s nothing more than a very average beach read. Though surely it’ll be hyped up into something more.
The plot has to do with a recent widow who comes back to her university to morally support her niece after a brutal murder of one of her schoolmates. The murders continue and the widow decides to stick around and play Sherlock, which may or may not involve a dashingly handsome very popular with the young ladies professor and his fan club of groupies who refer to themselves as The Maidens. The Maidens are obnoxious, wealthy brats, the professor is a slimeball, there are also some red fishes of the family Clupeidae that get heavy thrown around to confuse the readers. And some really basic first year psychology to give profundity to it all.
The author went to the same school and it shows in his writing, the setting is created expertly and with great attention to detail. The author is Greek, which is also something that’s prominently featured in the novel, not just geographically, but in its themes and motifs. But of the fact that the author is a bestselling thriller genius, there is no evidence to be found. The entire production has a strikingly amateurish quality to it and, unless bestselling means dumbed down for general population, it really isn’t justified with this book. It might be a sophomore slump sort of thing. No way to know without reading his debut.
And so, this was a quick mindless thoroughly average read just barely saved by a fun ending twist. Read if you want to. Pass and miss out on nothing. Thanks Netgalley.

While the opening chapters were promising, I found myself somewhat disappointed overall. The book began to drag, but I pushed through it. The mystery was intriguing, but Mariana's investigation of the murders seemed foolish. None of the characters were particularly likable and the ending was simply bizarre.